Missed Connections
by Q the R
Summary: Tom, Harry's best friend, is the king of Hell. Harry is one of the recently deceased. Maybe Harry should've looked into the consequences of befriending the king of Hell before he died and became his right hand man. Slash. Totally AU
1. In Which our Hero Has Awful Luck

**Disclaimer: I am not JKR and I don't own Harry Potter.**

 **Hi I'm Q and here's my Tom and Harry demons AU! Reviews make my world go round, and I hope you like my story :)**

Harry didn't mean to befriend Tom. Honest, he didn't. It just sort of happened, and yeah, maybe he should've broken off the friendship when he figured out that Tom was (quite literally) the King of Hell, but he'd never in a million years have imagined he'd land himself in this situation.

Stupidly, Harry had managed to get himself killed in a car accident a mere two minutes ago. He'd been sent to Heaven, but had not been accepted because of his ties to _that place down under_. Since he couldn't go to heaven, he had voluntarily descended into Hell to go find his best friend. Which was even more disturbing when he put it like that. He found Tom in an office setting talking into the phone in his deceptively charming voice.

"Yes, yes, at your earliest convenience. No need to trouble yourself on my account. I have all the time in the world after all." Tom said in honeyed tones. "Get him to me whenever you can." Harry, and probably the person on the other end of the line, understood that appearances, and everything really in Tom's case, were deceptive. He understood that what Tom really meant was that he wanted whoever it was _today_ , and would have him today. The King of Hell turned around to look at Harry, and a confused look passed over his face, quickly followed by amusement. Of course it only took Tom a matter of seconds to jump to the right conclusion. "Let me guess. You died, and they wouldn't accept you into Heaven because of me?" Aware of exactly how immature the action was, Harry stuck out his tongue. "Join the dark side Harry, we have better cookies," Tom chuckled at the thought.

"Haha really funny Tom," Harry muttered sarcastically, still sore over having to come down to Hell.

"I certainly think it is, but onto more important matters: do you think you'd like to stay here?" He inquired delicately. Harry shuffled awkwardly for a moment before answering.

"Well seeing as I've got no better place to go... yeah I suppose I can perhaps tolerate your company for the rest of time." His best 'put upon' expression was fixed to his face, but Harry didn't mind all that much. Tom was an evil bastard, probably a psychopath even, but he'd proven that he cared for Harry more than once.

Tom grinned like the cat that caught the canary. "Excellent," he practically hissed, "Be sure to be here bright and early tomorrow morning. I'll have Lucius lead you to your rooms. In the morning we'll have a small ceremony inducting you into the ranks of Hell." Harry started to protest, but Tom lifted a brow, and he remembered how bad of an idea that really was.

"Fine," he growled. Tom looked over to the doorway, and called out to the guard stationed there.

"Lucius come in please." Harry glanced up and inspected the newest addition. He had long platinum blonde hair, a decidedly arrogant sneer, and a gait that practically screamed he thought of himself as a member of the aristocracy. Which reminded Harry that he needed to figure out how the bureaucracy of the underworld worked, but he would save that for later.

"My lord what do you require of me?" Tom inclined his head towards Harry, but kept his eyes on Lucius. Harry didn't miss the change that came over him every time someone else entered their presence. Tom grew colder, becoming the so-called devil with an angel's face.

"You are to bring my new guest to his suite. The one right next to mine will do." Lucius' eyes widened imperceptibly.

"My lord? That suite has not been used in decades!" He cried out in shock.

"Are you questioning me Lucius?" That same silky soft tone from earlier had entered his voice and Lucius tightened his posture and shook his head no frantically. With Tom's change in tone had come a change in temperature as the room dropped to freezing point instantly. Tom nodded towards the door, face set in a smile as authentic as the mirages he was known for. Lucius left, but Harry stayed back to give Tom a hug.

As per usual, the blue eyed man stiffened, but then hugged Harry back. "Can't get enough of me hm golden boy?" Harry flicked his nose,

"As if." Harry followed after Lucius to his private quarters without further comment. Honestly Harry didn't know what he'd been expecting of Hell, but it certainly wasn't this. Sure the walls were mostly black or red, but the decor was rather sophisticated, polished even. Most of the chairs were made of leather, real leather, and the tables were all strong woods with a couple 'Business Insider' magazines strewn on top. It brought to mind the nice banks by where he used to live, and Harry was starting to wonder where all the torture chambers were, not that he wanted to see them. Apparently Lucius noticed his confusion,

"The head demons live in a separate area of Hell the torture racks are in the outer rim, The real estate around here is rather pricey as it's practically the only place from which you can't hear the screams." His lips quirked up in a smirk when he said 'pricey' and Harry wasn't sure he wanted to be let in on the joke.

"Thank you for explaining," he said instead. Lucius nodded and opened the doors to Harry's room. The moment after, the man hurried down the hall, as if he'd been summoned. Harry had half a mind to call after him, and ask that he not leave quite yet, tell him that he still needed help, but decided against it at the last minute. Who knew how much help that man could be, even if he was one of Tom's people. Harry popped his head into the room and realized quite quickly that his suites had been set up to look exactly like his own home, 12 Grimmauld Place. He thanked Tom in his head and slumped down into his bed.

Next thing Harry knew it was morning. A raven haired man he didn't recognize had shaken him awake. He had blue eyes like Tom's, Harry noticed, but a darker shade, and that's as far as the resemblance between the two went. Tom's hair was curled in little ringlets that annoyed the man to no end, and his face was more angular. This man had straight hair, and a beard covering quite a few of his facial features. There was also a difference in aura, Tom's was nearly overpowering and when full force would cow the strongest. This man's aura was powerful by normal standards, but had nothing on Tom, and even now the man seemed almost... afraid? Of Harry? He cleared his throat and smiled reassuringly,

"Good morning, do I have to report to Tom already?" To clarify, it had been a joke, but by the way the man simply nodded, Harry assumed it wasn't one here in Tom's kingdom. He got up and quickly threw on some decent clothes. From experience Harry already knew that Tom disapproved of most of his closet, but Harry had refused to change his style of dress for a friend. That being said he found it odd that his normal clothes were all present in his wardrobe, but he brushed it off.

Harry strode into the living area, where the strange demon had positioned himself, "Hello, I'm afraid I forgot to introduce myself earlier. My name is Harry, it's nice to meet you." He held out a hand, which the other man ignored and simply stated,

"Rodolphus" Harry was puzzled at the man's behavior, but followed after him without further comment.

He led the way to the same office Harry had found Tom in the day before. Once inside he found Tom, and a few others sitting down at a conference table that hadn't been there before. Harry quickly noticed Lucius from the day before, and Snape surprisingly. Snape was just as dismayed to see him, but settled for a sneer before turning his attention back to Tom. Rodolphus quickly sat down next to a man who bore a remarkable resemblance to him, and a woman that reminded him of his godfather's cousin. Harry took the last available seat, to the right of Tom. Apparently this had some sort of significance as everyone turned their head to him in perfect synchronization. Tom laughed it off.

"Good morning Tom, is there anything to eat? I'm starving," Tom turned to look at Rodolphus and mockingly drawled,

"I'm quite sure I told you to take care of Harry's needs this morning Rodolphus. Was that too much for you to handle?" Harry, immediately realizing what was going on, laid a hand on Tom's shoulder.

"Hey it's not his fault, it's mine. I didn't realize I was hungry until we got here. Besides I'm a full grown adult already. I can take care of myself, or are you trying to imply I can't?" The unsubtle attempt at manipulation did not go unnoticed by Tom.

"Nice try golden boy, but you're going to have to try harder than that. Although I will admit it's a good point. You are a full grown adult who should be able to look after himself. Which brings me to my next concern. How is it, that after I've told you a million times to be careful and look where you're walking, you died in a car accident?"

"Hey! I was chasing after this kid's pet and I didn't think–" Harry cut himself off at Tom's _utterly exasperated_ look.

"I told you your hero complex would get you killed someday,"

"Well it's not like I could just let the poor kid lose his rabbit!" Harry returned heatedly. Tom's expression went inscrutable, and Harry, not for the first time, wondered what the hell the other was thinking.

"Indeed not." A silence stretched out for a a few minutes until finally he broke it again. "Well that's not what you're here for. I've decided to make you my second-in-command, a right hand man if you will." Harry started protesting immediately,

"What does that even entail? I'm not a demon! Why would I want to be your right hand man? Tom you can't just drop something on me like this out of the blue!" Tom just looked amused as he normally did when he had the upper hand in their conversations.

"How was I supposed to break it to you then?"

"I don't know, you could've started with a 'Hi Harry. How are you doing today Harry? Harry listen, I have an open position within my ranks. Would you like to join me?' That would've done nicely I think!" He exclaimed, gesticulating wildly and oozing as much sarcasm as possible,

"Yes well I suppose I saved us both valuable time. Now if that was your only concern..." Tom trailed off before disappearing in an ominous cloud of dark smoke.

"No that was not my only concern! Tom get back here! Tom!" Harry got the distinct impression Tom was laughing at his predicament wherever he was. He sighed, exasperated at his best friend's antics and tried, yet again, to remember why he'd befriended Tom. Drawing a blank, he turned his attention to the remaining ten people around the table. "Okay so is there any chance one of you could tell me what my new responsibilities are to be?" The black haired woman waved her hand excitedly, and bounced up and down in her seat. The crazed look in her eye didn't reassure Harry, nor did the 'so done with this' expressions the rest of the demons around the table were sporting. One in particular, her husband, Harry read discreetly nudged her, presumably to shut her up.

"Pick me! Pick me! Ooh pick me! I can tell you!" Harry nodded at the over exuberant ravenette. "Okay so basically you have to come supervise the torture sessions in the dungeons. You'll love it! There's blood! And corpses! And severed spines! And guts! And eyeballs! And best of all there's brains in jars!" She said in a cross between a coo and a squeal. The others around the table nodded in agreement. Harry highly doubted he would love it, but he reluctantly followed the crazy ravenette down to the dungeons, learning along the way that her name was Bellatrix, and that she was indeed his godfather's cousin. Not that he was surprised, his godfather had a large family.

Eventually they reached the dungeons, and Harry realized that the loud, tortured screams resonated down the hall were not in fact a figure of his imagination or even an exaggeration. Flabbergasted, he turned around and demanded of the others who'd followed Bellatrix and him. "What are his crimes?"

Silence reigned for a few minutes until Rodolphus answered, "Does it really matter?" Harry sputtered before finally looking forward. Which was definitely a mistake as he promptly threw up at the sight, as if the stench hadn't been enough.

"Yes, it really does," Lucius took pity on him, and pulled out a clipboard which clearly stated that the man's only major sin was lying under oath. A lie which had saved several lives. Harry was beginning to realize the system down here was just as skewed as he'd always been told, but in a different way.

"If you mind so much why don't you choose his punishment?" Suggested a demon Harry didn't know the name of.

"Well I'd say he's had enough punishment, but next time a case like this comes up why don't you just make him apologize to the person or people he lied to?"

"Apologize?" Bellatrix said it almost like a word she'd never heard before. The blank looks on everyone else's faces did not reassure him in the slightest. Harry could see he would have his work cut out for him with this group.


	2. In Which Our Hero Has to Be Saved

**A/N: So you have a reviewer to thank for this update. I wasn't actually going to continue this, but angry Tom duct taping Dumbledore to a gate made me gleeful. Thank you to SweetDarkSilence**

 **Disclaimer: HP = not mine**

Minerva McGonagall peered sternly over her half moon glasses at a sweaty, slightly concerned, Albus Dumbledore. "What do you mean you cannot find Harry Potter? He died months ago! Months Albus! Find him, and return him to Heaven. His parents are looking for him." Dumbledore thought it over quickly, trying to find an excuse, when the perfect one came to him the twinkle in his eye reappeared.

"But Minerva, we cannot allow Tom's right hand man up here. It would set a bad precedent. James and Lily have other matters to attend to, I'm sure they can be distracted easily enough." He said trying to reason with her. Instead of assuaging her anger, his words only incensed her further.

"What do you mean by 'right hand man'? What did you do with Harry Potter Albus?" Now Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was a brave man. He had defeated the previous King of Hell, Grindelwald, and was said to be the only person Tom Riddle, the current King of Hell, feared. But facing down an angry Minerva McGonagall was even more terrifying than marching down to Hell and fighting Grindelwald and his hosts of armies at the peak of his power. He would know. He'd take the second over the first any day.

"Harry Potter befriended Tom Riddle. The boy has been corrupted. There was no way he could be allowed to enter Heaven," Albus said making his feeble excuses before Minerva silenced with a raised hand.

"Fix the mess you have created. Bring the Potter boy back to Heaven where he belongs, and thank the higher ups that I'm not the one doling out your punishment. I would've been much less merciful, I can assure you of that."

* * *

Meanwhile Harry was lounging around a dining room table with the other head demons. Since his arrival nearly 6 months ago he had gotten to know all of them quite well, and had befriended them all to some degree. Sure they didn't trust him quite yet, but Bellatrix was fond of him, Barty laughed at his jokes, Lucius had tried to teach him etiquette, Snape was protective of him, Rabastan and Rodolphus pulled pranks on the others with him, and Tom continued to be his best friend. Well best friend was too broad of a term for their complicated relationship. Tom insisted he didn't have friends, but remained miraculously silent when Harry was the one referring to him as such.

Said association had been what landed Harry in Hell in the first place, and as Tom's head demon. And said duties were what he was handling at the moment. A new demon had appeared. Well perhaps appeared was the wrong word, demons were created when an angel or any other creature that had been sent to Heaven chose to fall. It was a rare occurrence, or at least that's what the other demons had explained to him.

In the six months Harry had been living down here this was the first time he'd heard of a creature, a former angel in this case, choosing to live in Hell. All of this was hardly the problem though. The newly made demon's name was Luna Lovegood. In the short time she'd been here rumors had already started to fly about her. Some said she was touched in the head, had even started calling her 'Loony'. Harry hadn't had a chance to meet her yet, but he was angry about how the others had been treating her thus far.

In addition, Luna was an Nybbas demon. A rare breed that could foretell the future, and normally counseled any battle plans the King made. This, quite predictably, was where Tom's interest in her showed up. The last Nybbas demon had been Sybill Trelawney. She had predicted Grindelwald's downfall, but he had refused to believe her, and had died because of it. Tom was wary of Luna, but he also didn't seem too keen on making the same mistake his forerunner had.

Just moments ago Tom had sent Bellatrix off to collect the girl. There were two motives to the summons, Harry wished to put an end to her harassment, and Tom predictably just wanted to know more about her visions.

"Shouldn't Bella be back by now?" Harry questioned Tom worriedly. It had already been a half hour, and surely it was not so difficult for Bellatrix, a tracker demon, to find one measly girl.

"She probably got distracted torturing someone. They should be here soon." Tom answered not even glancing up from the book he was reading. Today they were assembled in Tom's office, and the usual conference table was in use. It was a gaudy piece of work, gold overlay and various figures carved into the delicate looking legs. Harry almost snorted at the idea that the table was representative of Tom himself.

"My king!" Bellatrix called joyfully bursting into the office, "I've brought the little demoness as you requested. There were some naughty demons trying to attack her, but a couple ripped entrails after they all cooperated nicely." Then she caught sight of Harry, and bounded over to him sitting carefully in the seat directly next to him. If Harry couldn't read the bond between her and Rodolphus he would be warier of her intentions. As it was he had no concern other than her incessant mother hen-ing.

Ten seconds later a dreamy looking blonde floated in, and yes "floated" was the best word Harry could think of to describe her movement. "You called for me?" She asked in an absent tone, but her eyes seemed to focus on Harry intently.

Tom cleared his throat, drawing her attention to him instead. "Miss Lovegood, it has been brought to my attention that you are a Nybbas, is this correct?" Luna nodded once, "Have you been having any visions lately?"

"No, just the nargles up to their usual mischief. They keep stealing my shoes," Luna gestured at her bare feet, "Also a Heliopath seems to have fixed it's attention on Harry. Might I suggest reedy sandals to ward it off?"

"A Helio-what?" Harry was beginning to get an idea of why it was people called Luna Loony, not that it was an excuse for the deplorable behavior, but he was getting an idea.

"A Heliopath, they're big balls of fire and they burn everything in their path. I'd imagine that's how they got the name. Not that I'd expect you to know all of this, the last recorded Heliopath lived in 1883, and was extinguished by an angel." He glanced at both of the others sitting in the room wondering about their reactions to the girl. Sure he was still new to the whole demons, and angels, and other assorted creatures, but surely this didn't exist. Wouldn't someone have noticed and contained it?

Tom blankly asked, "Do you know where the Heliopath is Miss Lovegood?" while Bellatrix just looked on happily eating something red and vaguely human shaped. Well that at least answered Harry's question of how they were taking this, Tom looked faintly skeptical, and Bella was madder than the March Hare so obviously she saw nothing at all strange in the situation.

Luna just pointed up and looked at Tom significantly, and instantly his polite distant expression melted into a stormy countenance. It was striking, scary, and nobody dared breathe for almost a minute.

"Tom? What's wrong?" No answer. "Are you okay? You're starting to scare me, now is not a good time for you to have a breakdown. You have work to deal with." At the mention of work the expression cleared up.

"Careful Harry, it sounds like you care." He teased, and Harry tensed. Tom's tone was teasing, but there was a humming undercurrent that concerned him. It was like he was misdirecting him because he didn't want Harry to know what was going through his head. And that was worrisome.

"Of course I care Tom, which is why I would like to know what was going through your head just now." For a minute there was no answer, making Harry believe he'd said the wrong thing.

"Oh the normal things that go through my head, paperwork, torture, the like." It was still too breezy of a tone, and although the answer's timing was fine Harry knew Tom better than this. Harry knew Tom's mannerisms better than this, and it was infuriating that the man seemed to believe otherwise.

"Can't you give me a straight answer? Or better yet a truthful one?"

"I could darling, but why would I want to?" Tom shrugged negligently, and Bellatrix had changed out her previous meal for a bowl of popcorn, which she was sharing with Luna. Unfortunately Harry could already see the new bond forming.

Harry had a scathing reply on the tip of his tongue, but before he could respond Tom simply vanished. An annoying habit he'd made use of back when he was visiting Harry in the above world, and seemed to have become even fonder of since Harry came down to Hell.

Sighing, and muttering angrily under his breath he turned to Luna. "Now I suppose it's my turn. Tell me about your treatment since you've arrived here." And just when he was getting used to the dreamy expression she had to adjust it.

* * *

Dumbledore stormed down the staircase from Heaven to Hell. He was the King of Heaven, second only to the deities of Fate, Destiny, Life, Death, and Luck. There was no need for him to be sent down to collect the Potter boy when he had angels at his disposal. Angels that were all too willing to run errands for him, and an extra share of grace.

Of course Minerva disagreed with that plan, as it was his fault Harry was in Hell, he would be the one to retrieve him. Which made perfect sense if you thought about it, but Albus didn't want to see it that way. To him it was demeaning, a way of questioning his authority.

Luck seemed to be on his side today, as once he reached the gates of Hell he was greeted by a messy haired ravenette with emerald green eyes hidden behind round wire frames. Even if he didn't know Harry personally he was still the spitting image of his father who had been in Dumbledore's office only two hours prior, berating him for losing his son.

Albus obviously wasn't the only one who recognized the other as young Mr. Potter's eyes widened in recognition, and he snapped his fingers to shut the gates.

"Harry my boy, I must speak with you about urgent matters."

"I'm sure whatever it is can wait until Tom returns, and it's Potter to you Dumbledore." The old man sighed, he didn't have time for this. Instead he waved his hand at the gate to force it open, and waved his hand at Harry to paralyze and silence him.

"It didn't have to be this way, I am sorry, but this needs to be dealt with immediately." Dumbledore waved his hand once more and Harry floated up the stairs to Heaven. It was time to meet with Mr. and Mrs. Potter.

* * *

Harry was angry, no doubt about it, and when he was angry he had a tendency to lash out at the people around him. It was fortunate, or perhaps unfortunate, that his ability to read bonds often aided him in this respect. For example, at the moment he could read that Dumbledore's most important bond had been severed. By death or simply rejection Harry couldn't tell, but by the sickly green color he guessed it was a mixture of both.

The second most important bond was also severed, it was obviously familial from the yellowy glow, but it was also snipped away. Meaning the family member was definitely dead.

As soon as Harry reached the office and was released from his magical restraints and gag he turned to Dumbledore angrily, "What right do you have to kidnap me from Hell you buffoon? Do you have even the faintest idea of what Tom will do when he finds out I'm gone? Do you have some sort of death wish? What do you want to join your family and lover or something equally stupid? Or is the guilt of not being able to save them eating up at you?"

From Dumbledore's pained expression he was pretty sure he'd hit the nail right on the head. Now the question was: why did he bring Harry up here when he was the one who had refused him entrance in the first place?

"Harry my boy, you must understand I had no choice. I'm simply following orders from the higher ups, and wouldn't you like to see your parents again?"

He fell silent at that. Harry hadn't seen his parents since he was a baby, he had no recollection of them, just the stories his godfather told him once they had met. His relatives has certainly never told Harry any nice stories, just lies about them being alcoholics or reckless drivers with no job and incapable of taking care of a baby.

By the time Harry was finished mulling this all over in his head there was a knock at the door. "Come in!" Dumbledore yelled. A vaguely familiar inky haired man and fiery-headed woman walked through the door, Harry's heart clenched on seeing them. There was no question about family resemblance. It was like looking in a mirror, even eerier because his parents looked only a few years older than him, and more like older siblings than anything else.

"Mum? Dad?" He managed to choke out.

"Harry?" His mum asked, eyes wide and tears gathering in her eyes. "Oh you're all grown up! But you're still so young. We wanted you to live Harry." With that the tears streamed down her face and Harry rushed over to hug her.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry,"

* * *

Tom was in a temper. It was not enough that Dumbledore had caused Harry pain by forbidding him entrance to Heaven, but now he also had the nerve to target him? He'd been making battle plans ever since Luna had revealed the information, because with everything Tom knew about Dumbledore he knew better than to underestimate the old man. This being the case he was in the middle of going over his revised plans with Lucius who was basically his left-hand man. If Albus had plans for Harry Tom would ensure they never came to pass by whatever means necessary.

A young messenger demon ran into the conference room looking vaguely out of sorts. "Your Majesty! It is most urgent! Arch demon Harry has been kidnapped by Him."

Tom and Lucius stood up so fast the table nearly tipped over, and as the room darkened Lucius spoke up, "I will alert the others. We will move up the time frame of our plans to retrieve Harry as soon as possible." With these words he rushed out of the room watching as temperatures all over Hell plummeted. Every demon knew what that meant, that something had displeased their lord. And they also knew to pity anyone who was near him when he lashed out.

By the time Lucius had informed the other Arch demons about the change in plans the screaming had stopped; probably because Tom was keeping the rest of his anger to focus on Dumbledore.

* * *

Twenty minutes after having met his parents found Harry seated at a round table enjoying 4 o'clock tea. His parents weren't the only ones present, as both his godfathers, Sirius and Remus had been invited as well. McGonagall had joined them briefly, mostly to remark on how much Harry looked like James and she hoped he wasn't as much of a troublemaker. Dumbledore had been sent to the gates to keep guard.

"So Harry you haven't told us much of what happened from after the accident to your attending Hogwarts. Who did you live with?" His mother asked. Sirius' own expression darkened as he'd gotten a quick glimpse back in Harry's third year, and Harry himself swallowed nervously.

"Well I lived with the Dursleys."

"Lils wasn't that the last name of your sister's husband?" Harry's father asked his mother as both of their expressions darkened as well. Remus watched all the Potters' expressions and that of his mate before a lightbulb went off over his head.

"Your sister's husband? You mean the whale of a man that tried to beat up James because we were 'freakish'? Oh god!" He turned to Harry worriedly, "How did they treat you Harry?"

"It wasn't so bad. They fed me, gave me water, provided a roof over my head-"

He was cut off by a new voice, "They also locked you up in a cupboard for ten years, forced you to be their personal maid, and screamed at you nearly constantly. They're in Hell for a reason you know." Harry turned at Tom's conversational tone.

"You didn't need to mention any of that," he hissed in a low voice.

"No golden boy. Apparently I did. They needed to know, and I'm sure they would've figured it out on their own anyway. Then they would've felt like you betrayed them or that you couldn't trust them." Tom gestured at the people who loved him who seemed torn between anger at the Dursleys and sadness that they couldn't do anything to help until it was too late.

Lily in particular seemed to be beating herself up over it. "Harry my love, I'm sorry. Life with that dreadful woman was the last thing I wished for you."

Sirius hung his head, "I shouldn't have gone after Pettigrew. I should have stayed with you and made sure you were okay before I ran off to confront him. I'm sorry Harry." Remus looked on sadly.

"I have no excuse. I just shut myself off from everyone and I only began to play a part in your life again after Sirius got out of prison. I shouldn't have waited. I could have done something. Adopted you or I don't know anything to take care of you."

James spoke last, "There was a will. I wrote a will. In the event we died before you grew up there was a list of who could take custody of you. Sirius, Remus, Alice and Frank, Amelia, surely someone read the will?"

Harry was surprised at this, but his mother seemed to have processed what his father was saying quickly enough. "Somebody sealed the will. I wonder why?"

"Well I don't think it matters terribly at the moment, but I would like to ensure my Arch demon is okay if you don't mind?" Tom said annoyed at being ignored for so long. Harry sighed, and pushed away from the table.

"I'm fine as you can see. Dumbledore just wanted me to see my parents." Which now that Harry thought about it was rather suspicious and a bit of a jerk move. He now knew his parents, but he would still be going back home to Hell with Tom. Would this be the last time he saw them? He studied them quietly until Tom broke in.

"You could have left a note at least. We were worried sick," He remarked quietly, and Harry took the uncharacteristically quiet moment to look at Tom. Really look at him the way he hadn't since that first day in the middle of the street. Back when Tom had been an anomaly because of the complete lack of bonds around him. Now Tom's lack of bonds had changed. There were small bonds of friendship extending to the other Arch demons, and something else leading straight to Harry. And comprehension dawned on him.

"I'll never worry you like that again. I promise." Harry vowed heatedly staring him straight in the eyes until Tom's softened somewhat.

Now Harry turned to face his parents and godfathers with a sad smile on his face. "I think it's time for me to head back. Will I be allowed to-" he gestured a hand meaning to say return, but his voice was failing him. Luckily his parents seemed to understand what he was trying to say and nodded sadly.

"You're always welcome back Harry." James got up impulsively and pulled him in for a hug. "I'm proud of you. No matter what you choose to do I'm proud of you." This time Harry was the one crying, and as he was passed around from his father to his mother to his godfathers he felt warm and safe.

When the tears stopped falling he smiled at Tom and said, "I'm ready to go." He waved goodbye and marched back down the stairs to Hell noticing that there was a small army hanging around right outside waiting for orders to attack. Harry smiled at Tom wryly, "Not today guys. We're just going to go about business as usual today." Then he caught sight of Dumbledore duct taped to the fence and revised his previous statement. Not business as usual, but close enough.

And if he did sleep in Tom's chambers instead of his own that night, and seemed to have grown even more attached to the King of Hell than he had been previously then nobody dared to comment on it.


End file.
